Chapter 107: Chapter 107: The Pressure is on Wuyue

Translator: 549690339

Liang Calendar 3210, August 5th.

Sun Qing arrived at the Forestry Bureau as usual.

First, he clocked in at the entrance of the Forestry Bureau, then passed by the main office, greeting his colleagues with a smile as he made his way to his personal office.

As the Chief Registrar of the Forestry Bureau, Sun Qing did have some prestige. Plus, with Chen Qiming getting close to him recently, it was inevitable that everyone in the Forestry Bureau smelled a scent of opportunity.

Although everyone was a colleague, there was a difference between those who followed the dragon and those who had merely crossed paths; their future opportunities would definitely be completely different.

Having sent away two colleagues who wanted to curry favor, Sun Qing sighed deeply.

Being a leader wasn’t easy, with so many subordinates. It was a subtle art to discern who was sincere and who was only good at taking the blame.

However, Sun Qing, after all, was an adult and didn’t hesitate for too long before he plunged back into his work.

The resource survey for Liang Kingdom was about done by their Wuyue Forestry Bureau.

All they had to do was wait for the statistical data from the end of July to come out and integrate it into the overall trend chart, and then everything would be all set.

“Speaking of which, it’s already the fifth of August today, should the data from the end of July be out?”

Just as Sun Qing said this, his office door was knocked on.

“Mr. Sun! Mr. Sun!”

An employee of the Forestry Bureau rushed in with a stack of file bags.

“Little Li, it’s good to have enthusiasm for work, but try not to be too impulsive,” Sun Qing assumed his Chief Clerk’s posture.

He stood up to close the door for Little Li, and then poured him a cup of tea.

“Here, take a sip of tea and relax.”

“No, no, Chief Clerk, you should look at the documents first!”

“The documents can wait. There’s still more than half a month until the end of the resource survey.”

“No, Chief Clerk, you really should look at the documents!”

Sun Qing opened the document pouch with skepticism and began to look through it.

This batch of statistics was the last for this survey by the Forestry Bureau.

Sun Qing skimmed over them briefly, and the new data matched the previous figures; nothing seemed amiss.

“These documents look quite good. What’s the issue?”

“Chief Clerk! Look at the sheet for fishery resources!!!”

Sun Qing confidently said, “Fisheries? Oh, you mean the Fishing Talisman. We assessed the Fishing Talisman; it has an impact but a minor one. Overall, our Wuyue’s fishery resources are still stable and improving… Huh!?”

The statistics showed that the fishery resources of Wuyue had more than halved compared to last year!

Some fish species were even untraceable, apparently on the verge of extinction!

“Damn! Where are the fish?”

Sun Qing could no longer contain the shock in his heart!

To be honest, the Forestry Bureau knew about the Fishing Talisman situation. The problem was that even with the use of the Fishing Talisman, the fish shouldn’t have disappeared!

The sudden drastic reduction in fish around Wuyue, with no abnormal natural phenomena, did not seem like extinction, but rather as if the fish had organized and disciplined themselves for a strategic migration!

A little fluctuation in the Forestry Bureau’s resource survey data each year was quite normal.

But the current situation couldn’t be described as fluctuation anymore. It was more appropriate to call it a “ripple.”

Fish: This is my final ripple! Humans!

The instantaneous decrease in Wuyue’s fish population was no longer an issue the Forestry Bureau could resolve on its own.

At the Prefect Mansion, Chen Qiming and Sun Qing handed the latest statistics over to Zuo Yuanhong.

Zuo Yuanhong stared at the data for a long time and asked, “In the past few years, we haven’t been fishing in Wuyue, have we?”

Chen Qiming answered quickly, “No, Prefect. Since the fishing ban in Xiang State, Wuyue has always adhered to the policy and never crossed the line. The fish found on the dinner tables of the people of Wuyue all come from pond farming.”

Zuo Yuanhong nodded in acknowledgment.

Since there were no fish caught, the disappearance of the fish naturally wouldn’t have an impact on Wuyue’s economy. The only potential effect was on the sales of the Fishing Talismans.

“How have the Fishing Talismans been selling recently?” Zuo Yuanhong asked.

Chen Qiming thought for a moment, then said, “It seems, there hasn’t been any effect. Those talismans appear to have started catching sea fish.”

“Oh, then it’s fine,” Zuo Yuanhong sighed in relief and said, “I will write a report about this phenomenon and send it to the Capital now. However, you all know the speed at which they work in the Capital. Since the disappearance of the fish doesn’t affect anything, we don’t need to hurry, let’s take it slow. As long as we resolve the issue before the end of the fishing ban, won’t it be fine as long as it doesn’t delay the fishermen’s catch?”

Sun Qing cautiously asked, “Then Prefect, about our resource survey, what do you think…”

“Fill it out truthfully.” Zuo Yuanhong said.

Outside the Prefect Mansion, Sun Qing looked troubled as he spoke with Chen Qiming.

“Dean Chen, if we really do fill in the data truthfully, what are we going to do when the Ministry of Revenue sends people to check?”

Chen Qiming had already thought of a strategy early on; the issue with the Fishing Talisman couldn’t be blamed on Jiang Cheng.

“The issue with the Fishing Talisman is no small matter, and all of Wuyue has heard about it. Just blame the disappearance of the fish on the Immortal Sect’s lax control over the Aquatic Tribe. After all, our imperial court also doesn’t dare to provoke the Immortal Sect. This matter will most likely be settled like that.”

Zhou Yunshan didn’t feel much like fishing recently.

It wasn’t that he had grown tired of it, but rather that he had been catching larger fish recently, causing his arms to suffer from overuse injuries.

During this period, not only had he caught big black fish, but he’d even caught octopuses, sharks, turtles, and jellyfish.

Having continuously caught big ones, Zhou Yunshan actually began to miss the joy of catching a small fish in the beginning.

So today when he went fishing, Zhou Yunshan exceptionally didn’t use the “Super Fishing Talisman,” instead reverting to the regular version, longing to catch a small fish for fun.

As soon as the fishhook hit the water, and a half-pound carp successfully bit the bait half an hour later.

Zhou Yunshan cheerfully lifted the fishhook, ready to put his catch of the day in the bucket.

That’s when he noticed a little girl squatting next to the bucket.

The little girl was well-dressed, clearly not from an average family.

“Little girl, where are your parents?”

Ao Lian lifted her head and honestly said, “My parents didn’t come; they live in a place very far away from here.”

Zhou Yunshan thought it a pity, such a good little girl, orphaned at such a young age.

Ao Lian focused on the talisman attached to Zhou Yunshan’s fishhook and said, “Uncle, did you make this thing that sings?”

“No, I bought it.”

“Then who made it?”

“Jiang Cheng, Master Jiang. Do you like it? Here, it’s yours.”

Zhou Yunshan gave Ao Lian the original Fishing Talisman.

“What about you?” Ao Lian asked, holding the Fishing Talisman.

“I’ll just buy another one.”

“Buy?”

“Yes, they sell them in the Task Hall.”

“Task Hall?”

“The Tongtian Sect Task Hall, in that direction.”

Ao Lian looked in the distance indicated and waved to Zhou Yunshan, “Goodbye, Uncle.”

“Hey, you…” Zhou Yunshan wanted to ask where the little girl was planning to go, but when he looked up, she had already disappeared.

In the Tongtian Sect Task Hall, He saw Ao Lian.

Holding the Fishing Talisman and jumping around, Ao Lian said, “Sister, sister, Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng.”

He: